JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel began construction Monday of a concrete wall to protect its citizens in the north from Lebanese sniper fire.

"[The wall is] intended to prevent firing from the Lebanese side to the Israeli side," IDF Co. Amit Fisher told Israel Radio. "In the past year and a half, there have been a number of incidents."

The wall is being built between the Israeli town of Metula and the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila and should be complete within several weeks. When finished, it will be about 20-feet high and half-mile long.

The project, announced in January, has been coordinated with U.N. peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese Army.